Judge Bean
Senior Member
Brave New Freedom
In the first place, you will notice the increasing use of the new F word?freedom?to sanctify the most incredible range of federal activities. Instead of the ?fight against terror? buzzphrase of the first four, the edict has apparently been issued that the golden words for the next four years, used to justify government encroachments on private lives and local power, are ?spread freedom.?
You can see the reason for the switch in attitude and rhetoric, but the new propaganda doesn?t fit really well with such things as increasing use of federal agents to ?fight gangs? or, as below, a public health campaign to ensure a continuing boom in pharmaceutical sales. Mental health has only a tenuous, metaphorical connection to the type of ?freedom? the U.S. is supposedly ?spreading? in the Middle East.
We should try to keep the simple language straight in order not to be doped up into acquiescing in the government?s obvious plan to turn us into blind, consuming automatons, living in a desert world in which we are dependent upon a tightly-controlled and expensive supply of drugs and synthetic food. As the environment deteriorates, we will more and more need more and more expensive and rare kinds of medicine and equipment. We will need dialysis, implants, transfusions, steroids, and iron lungs. We will not be able to buy necessities without? well, let?s take it one step at a time.
First, the language. It always starts with the twisted words, doesn?t it? What is freedom? Is it something that is ?spread,? like peanut butter? Do we already have it, are we already born with it, or is it something that is given to us by President Bush? Is there an ?old? freedom, that needs to be replaced with a ?new? one?
One more thing: this is a small excerpt from a long document, and it?s from the summary introduction. It is very difficult to find in the document language that says what the government wants to use it for, and it?s not even very clear in the excerpt, so I?ll make it as clear as I can.
The government wants to screen your children at school, without your participation, for mental health problems, chiefly Attention Deficit Disorder; thereafter compel you somehow to forcefeed them psychotropics. Everybody following along?
In the first place, you will notice the increasing use of the new F word?freedom?to sanctify the most incredible range of federal activities. Instead of the ?fight against terror? buzzphrase of the first four, the edict has apparently been issued that the golden words for the next four years, used to justify government encroachments on private lives and local power, are ?spread freedom.?
You can see the reason for the switch in attitude and rhetoric, but the new propaganda doesn?t fit really well with such things as increasing use of federal agents to ?fight gangs? or, as below, a public health campaign to ensure a continuing boom in pharmaceutical sales. Mental health has only a tenuous, metaphorical connection to the type of ?freedom? the U.S. is supposedly ?spreading? in the Middle East.
We should try to keep the simple language straight in order not to be doped up into acquiescing in the government?s obvious plan to turn us into blind, consuming automatons, living in a desert world in which we are dependent upon a tightly-controlled and expensive supply of drugs and synthetic food. As the environment deteriorates, we will more and more need more and more expensive and rare kinds of medicine and equipment. We will need dialysis, implants, transfusions, steroids, and iron lungs. We will not be able to buy necessities without? well, let?s take it one step at a time.
First, the language. It always starts with the twisted words, doesn?t it? What is freedom? Is it something that is ?spread,? like peanut butter? Do we already have it, are we already born with it, or is it something that is given to us by President Bush? Is there an ?old? freedom, that needs to be replaced with a ?new? one?
One more thing: this is a small excerpt from a long document, and it?s from the summary introduction. It is very difficult to find in the document language that says what the government wants to use it for, and it?s not even very clear in the excerpt, so I?ll make it as clear as I can.
The government wants to screen your children at school, without your participation, for mental health problems, chiefly Attention Deficit Disorder; thereafter compel you somehow to forcefeed them psychotropics. Everybody following along?
\"President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America
Executive Summary
Vision Statement
We envision a future when everyone with a mental illness will recover, a future when mental illnesses can be prevented or cured, a future when mental illnesses are detected early, and a future when everyone with a mental illness at any stage of life has access to effective treatment and supports - essentials for living, working, learning, and participating fully in the community.
Goal 4 - Early Mental Health Screening, Assessment, and Referral to Services Are Common Practice
In a transformed mental health system, the early detection of mental health problems in children and adults - through routine and comprehensive testing and screening - will be an expected and typical occurrence. At the first sign of difficulties, preventive interventions will be started to keep problems from escalating. For example, a child whose serious emotional disturbance is identified early will receive care, preventing the potential onset of a co-occurring substance use disorder and breaking a cycle that otherwise can lead to school failure and other problems.
Quality screening and early intervention will occur in both readily accessible, low-stigma settings, such as primary health care facilities and schools, and in settings in which a high level of risk exists for mental health problems, such as criminal justice, juvenile justice, and child welfare systems. Both children and adults will be screened for mental illnesses during their routine physical exams. \"